The invention is directed toward systems and methods for improving and extending wireless communications networks. The invention will be described in terms of 2G and 3G cellular communications networks. However, the invention can be readily adapted to be implemented in other communications environments. Additionally, the invention can be used to extend and improve communications for wired devices.
Many electronic devices are equipped to communicate with other electronic devices and networks. For example, cell phones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDA) and pagers include means, such as, for example, IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet, HiperLan, Universal Serial Bus (USB), RS-232 serial ports, Bluetooth, wired telephone modems, cellular wireless, and IEEE 11.1R communications ports for connecting the devices to other devices and networks.
These communications ports are all based on standards and technologies known in the computer and/or communications arts. For example, IEEE 802.11 refers to a family of specifications developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for wireless Local Area Network technology. IEEE 802.11 specifies an over-the-air interface between a wireless client and a base station or between two wireless clients. There are several specifications in the 802.11 family. 802.11 applies to wireless LANs and provides 1 or 2 Mbps transmission in the 2.4 GHz RF band using either frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) or direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS). IEEE 802.11a is an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANs and provides up to 54 Mbps in the 5 GHz band. 802.11a uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing encoding scheme rather than FHSS or DSSS. IEEE 802.11b (also referred to as 802.11 High Rate or Wi-Fi) is an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANS and provides 11 Mbps transmission (with a fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps) in the 2.4 GHz band. 802.11b uses only DSSS. 802.11b was a 1999 ratification to the original 802.11 standard, allowing wireless functionality comparable to Ethernet. IEEE 802.11g. applies to wireless LANs and provides 20+ Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band.
The High Performance Radio Local Area Network (HiperLAN), was developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, and is a set of WLAN communication standards used chiefly in Europe. HiperLAN is similar to the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards used in the U.S. There are two types of HiperLAN: HiperLAN/1: provides communications at up to 20 Mbps in the 5 GHz band. HiperLAN/2: provides communications at up to 54 Mbps in the 5 GHz band. Like 802.11, HiperLAN serves to ensure the possible interoperability of different manufacturers' wireless communications equipment that operate in this spectrum.
Bluetooth refers to a short-range radio technology aimed at simplifying communications among Net devices and between devices and the Internet. It also aims to simplify data synchronization between Net devices and other computers. Products with Bluetooth technology must be qualified and pass interoperability testing by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group prior to release. The Bluetooth 1.0 specification consists of two documents: the Foundation Core, which provides design specifications, and the Foundation Profile, which provides interoperability guidelines. Bluetooth's founding members include Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba. These provisions for connectivity can greatly enhance the usefulness of these devices.
These connectivity provisions, and others can allow for the exchange of e-mail or simple messages, and the accessing of proprietary or public information. For example, a salesman may use one of these devices to access company pricing and inventory information. A tourist may use the devices to access entertainment listings or restaurant information publicly available over the Internet. The timely access of information afforded by this mobile device connectivity can greatly enhance the efficiency of device users. For example, the rapid delivery of information can help close a business deal and/or enhance the quality of decisions.
However, in order to communicate with another device, a user's device must be within range of, or be able to connect to, the other device or an access point associated with the other device. Unfortunately, such access points are not universally available. Access points can only be profitably provided where the costs of such access points can be distributed over a sufficiently large number of users or over a sufficiently large volume of access point traffic.
The wide variety of connectivity protocols further aggravates the problem of access point justification. In many locations, where the total connectivity bandwidth desired might justify the installation of an access point, the access point cannot be profitably provided because the band width demand is distributed over a large number of different connectivity protocols. For example, 50 percent of the bandwidth demand at a given location might be cellular telephone traffic. Twenty-two percent might be IEEE 802.11 wireless Ethernet traffic, 20 percent might be USB traffic and 9 percent might be based on the Bluetooth protocol. At this exemplary location, the traffic demand of any single connectivity technology may be insufficient to justify the establishment of an access point.
The present invention solves this problem by aggregating the connectivity demands of a plurality of users associated with a plurality of user devices wherein the devices can be adapted to communicate via different communications protocols. Additionally, the present invention extends the range of the user devices by retransmitting data from the devices with an increased effective radiated power. For example, a transmitting antennae associated with the invention is spaced from the user's thereby reducing the user exposure to radiated energy and alleviating concerns of regulatory agencies.